Safford Peak - Saguaro National Park West

Safford Peak is located in Saguaro National Park West, and is accessed from Sanctuary Cove. The summit is 3,563 feet, and the exhausting hike was 3.4 miles round trip, which took me 4 hours. The final ascent is a challenging class 2 climb.

The Tucson Mountains are composed of various volcanic rocks which geologists refer to as the Tucson Mountain Chaos. 

 

Wasson Peak - Saguaro National Park West

This was my second time hiking up Wasson Peak to the 4,688 foot summit. I took the 8 mile loop trail that combined the Gould Mine, Sendero Esperanza, Hugh Norris, and King Canyon Trails.

Saguaro National Park West

I spent the afternoon relaxing at the visitor center, and waiting for the late afternoon sunlight to make a good photograph.

Saguaro National Park West - Tucson, Arizona

I hiked the Hugh Norris, Sendero Esperanza, and Dobie Wash Trails, creating a 6.4 mile loop.

Hugh Norris Trail

Bark Scorpion - Saguaro National Park West

Last night, I went on a hike with a herpetologist, Lawrence L. C. Jones, MS, and a park ranger from Saguaro National Park West looking for scorpions. I sure did learn a lot, like where to find them, their behavior, and how to tell the different species apart. We saw Bark Scorpions, Desert Hairy Scorpions, Striped Tailed Scorpions, Bajada Dune Scorpions, and Yellow Ground Scorpions. We also found a Western Thread Snake. 

Scorpions play a very important role in nature.  They are predators that prey on large numbers of insects.  Thus, scorpions are a form of natural pest control and in wild areas, scorpions should not be killed just becasue they are scorpions. 

Bark Scorpion

Saguaro National Park West

Saguaro National Park is in southern Arizona. Its 2 sections are on either side of the city of Tucson. The park is named for the large saguaro cactus, native to its desert environment. These photos are from the Tucson Mountain District on the west side.

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Western Diamondback Rattlesnake - Saguaro National Park West

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On May 24th, I was fortunate to have spotted this Western Diamondback Rattlesnake on the Sweetwater Trail at Sagauro National Park West. I had just happened to glance down at the trail, and there it was about four feet in front of me stretched across the trail and not rattling, until I got my camera out. They don’t like cameras, and it moved off the trail looking for a hiding place among the prickly pear cactus. Western Diamondbacks, have a hemotoxic venom, which means blood-damaging, but it turns out that the chemicals in the venom target all sorts of tissues, not just blood.

ranging from about 4,000' to over 9,000'.